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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25686010">Relief Duty</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/AuthorToBeNamedLater/pseuds/AuthorToBeNamedLater'>AuthorToBeNamedLater</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Pike-April Family Business [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 06:28:38</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,332</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25686010</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/AuthorToBeNamedLater/pseuds/AuthorToBeNamedLater</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Robert April arrives to provide the relief Chris Pike desperately needs.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Pike-April Family Business [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1862620</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Rest For the Weary</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Very long and self-indulgent note:</p>
<p>A long time ago on a FanFiction.Net far, far away I posted several short stories about the Pike-April familial relationship. So if you're thinking you've seen it before, you have. I lost the password to my FFN account ages ago and no longer have the email I used for it, plus I like AO3's interface better, so this is where my work hangs out now.<br/>This story has been in my head for about ten years. I've even tried to write it multiple times. I finally decided to just go for it already. The concept of Sarah April as Chris Pike's sister is mine and definitely not canon. In fact I don't think Robert and Sarah April are officially canon at all. Therefore I do what I want with them.</p>
<p>I loved Bruce Greenwood's Pike in the first two reboot movies, and he got fridged in both of them. Hashtag Captain Pike Deserves Better. Can I get an amen? I always imagined there had to be some reason Pike went after Jim so hard, and it wasn't just the Kirk family name. Maybe someone saw in a young Chris Pike a good officer who could be a great one. So who sharpened the iron of our beloved Captain Pike? Read and find out.</p>
<p>I want to dedicate this chapter to my husband, affectionately known in these parts as MrToBeNamedLater :). I lost a lot of my creative drive to PPD (and, you know, just the insanity of having a newborn) after I had my son. MrToBeNamedLater inadvertently discovered my AO3 account one day, read all my stories to my embarrassment, told me he loved my writing and I should take it up again. Yes, he's pretty great and sorry ladies no he does not have a brother.</p>
<p>The title for this series is from Proverbs 27:17. Would you believe the hardest part of this series was finding a title?</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lieutenant Commander Christopher Richard Pike, Acting Captain of the USS Rotterdam, sat in an office that wasn't his, doing a job he wasn't ready to do.</p>
<p>The beleaguered Rotterdam had limped into drydock at Starbase 12, having barely survived a freak ion storm causing a warp core breach, a near hull breach, short circuits galore and the death of her captain and first officer and chief medical officer and God only knew what else. Pike didn't even want to start on the injuries. A hasty field promotion, a week (had it been a week?) of putting out fires literal and figurative, and Pike was approaching the end of his formidable endurance.</p>
<p>
  <i>They say in Mojave the best way to get in a cold stream is to jump right in.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>What a crock.</i>
</p>
<p>Pike folded his arms on the ready room desk and laid his forehead on his wrists. Maybe he could just rest his eyes for a few minutes.</p>
<p>
  <i>"Shahriyar to Pike."</i>
</p>
<p><i>What now?</i> Without picking his head up, Pike flipped open his communicator. "What is it, Lieutenant?"</p>
<p><i>"Captain April is requesting permission to beam aboard,"</i> one of the transporter techs, Yasamin Shahriyar, informed.</p>
<p><i>What?</i> "He's not supposed to be here until 1500," Pike said.</p>
<p>Shahriyar paused. <i>"It's 1505, sir."</i></p>
<p><i>What? Shit.</i> Pike sat bolt upright. "Right, right." He scrubbed a hand over his face. I don't think I shaved last night. "Beam him up, Shahriyar. I'll be right there."</p>
<p>"Yes, Commander."</p>
<p>Pike hastily stowed his communicator and started off.</p>
<p><i>No rest for the weary.</i><br/>.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>Captain Robert Malcolm April, formerly of the USS Newfoundland and soon to be of the USS Rotterdam, never really relaxed until he felt his feet hit the transporter pad at his destination.<br/>Transporters had been in use for decades, the technology tested formally and informally and declared safe time and again. But as far as April was concerned, nobody ever really felt comfortable with the idea of having his molecular structure compressed into an energy beam and reassembled. </p>
<p>April's eyes began to make out the Rotterdam's transporter room. He breathed a silent sigh of relief. As soon as he could see his surroundings, April always felt like the worst danger had passed.</p>
<p>Through the iridescent haze April saw the door to his right swoosh open and a blurry figure dash through it. Once his vision cleared altogether April saw the Rotterdam's acting captain standing at full attention, offering a perfect spit-and-polish salute.</p>
<p>At least, it would have looked perfect to someone who hadn't known Christopher Pike for nearly 20 years.</p>
<p>"Captain April," Chris said, as if he were speaking to a stranger and not his oldest friend and his sister's husband. "By order of Starfleet Command, I yield command of the USS Rotterdam to you as of 1500 hours, stardate 2235.06."</p>
<p>April continued the protocol and returned the salute. "I accept command." He dropped the salute and stepped off the platform. "At ease, Commander."</p>
<p>Chris obeyed and relaxed into parade rest.</p>
<p>He's shaking, April observed with no small amount of concern. But he'd deal with that later. The Rotterdam's new captain stepped past Chris to the transporter control panel. "My thanks for the beam-up, Lieutenant...?"</p>
<p>"Shahriyar, sir. Yasamin Shahriyar," the young woman answered crisply. "Welcome aboard, Captain April."</p>
<p>April nodded in greeting. "Where are you from, Lt. Shahriyar?" She had long, jet black hair and near-black eyes with a tanned skin tone. That, combined with her name, led April to guess the Middle East.</p>
<p>"Tehran, sir." Shahriyar looked subtly confused as to why her new captain inquired after her home region, but April had his reasons. Robert April knew he was gregarious and charming, and he enjoyed putting his energetic nature to work as a captain. Part of that meant he prided himself on knowing his crew, from his senior staff down to the maintenance techs, to the best of his abilities. Not only did he believe it fostered a sense of unity among the crew, but it made filling vacant positions easier when they came up.</p>
<p>"Well," April smiled. "Nice to meet you, Lt. Yasamin Shahriyar from Tehran. In my first act as captain of the USS Rotterdam...you're dismissed."</p>
<p>Shahriyar straightened to attention, smiling that hesitant smile of a junior officer pleased to have garnered some attention from her captain. "Thank you, sir."</p>
<p>April waited until Shahriyar had left before he let his captain act slide and turned to Chris. "Come here, kid," April said with brotherly fondness, pulling the younger man into a bear hug.<br/>Chris returned the embrace a little too tightly.</p>
<p><i>He's thinner, too.</i> Oh, Sarah was going to have a field day when she showed up. April stood back and set his hands on Chris's shoulders, regarding the other officer with an appraising glance.</p>
<p>Chris looked terrible, April realized. He was pale, sported stark shadows under his glassy eyes, probably hadn't shaved in two days and hadn't gotten a decent night of sleep in longer. His normally somewhat untamed dark hair was even more untamed than usual. </p>
<p>April knew that look. It was the look of a captain scrabbling to hold his ship together while he fell apart. April had seen it in the mirror far too many times.</p>
<p>"You look like shit." April delivered the assessment without malice.</p>
<p>"Nice to see you too, Rob," Chris said flatly.</p>
<p>"Come on." April clapped Chris on the shoulder and steered him toward the door. "Let's take a walk. I'd like to get this suitcase to my quarters."<br/>.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>"Did you hear we're supposed to get the new uniforms before shipping out?"</p>
<p>Pike only half heard the remark. Now that Rob had arrived, Pike could feel his last reserves of adrenaline waning fast. The Rotterdam was Rob's now, and while Chris Pike never backed down from a challenge, he was quite willing to hand this one over to the man who could meet it.</p>
<p>"Chris?"</p>
<p>"Huh?" Pike snapped back to reality. "Um. Yeah. I heard."</p>
<p>Rob was giving him a sidelong look. Pike knew if he didn't find another line of conversation soon, Rob would start interrogating him about his physical and mental state. And Pike just wasn't ready for that yet.</p>
<p>"When's Sarah getting here?" Pike changed the subject. His older sister--and Rob's wife--was set to replace Dr. Pershing as the Rotterdam's chief medical officer. It was the main reason Starfleet had gone after Rob for the captain's chair. Moving a husband and wife from the same ship was considerably easier than wrangling two officers from two ships half a quadrant apart.</p>
<p>
  <i>Flannery. Another casualty.</i>
</p>
<p>"Sometime tomorrow. She had some business to finish up on the Newfie."</p>
<p>Pike arched an eyebrow at his new captain. "Newfie?"</p>
<p>"What?" Rob asked, some of his natural joviality peeking through.</p>
<p>"She's a starship, Rob. Not a dog."</p>
<p>"'Newfoundland' is a mouthful," Rob explained. "And it's not just a dog, it's also a province in Canada, you know."</p>
<p>"Wow, did you pass fourth grade geography too?" Chris quipped.</p>
<p>"Hey, I need to keep you on your toes," Rob responded.</p>
<p>Pike laughed a little. Falling back into friendly banter with his brother-in-law did wonders to ease the tension he'd been carrying for the past two weeks.</p>
<p>"Oh, here we are," Pike said as they arrived at the door to Rob and Sarah's quarters and punched in the code. "You can reprogram the code later if you want, but for now it's--"</p>
<p>The keypad light flashed red. Pike frowned and punched again.</p>
<p>0718. Another red light.</p>
<p>"What's the code?" Rob asked.</p>
<p>"Uh." Pike rubbed his forehead. "0718. Your anniversary."</p>
<p>"Our anniversary's July 25th, Chris."</p>
<p>Pike blinked. "Oh." He knew that. Didn't he? "Right. Yeah." He tried the correct date.</p>
<p>The light blinked green, and the doors swooshed open.</p>
<p>"Ah, home sweet home," Rob announed as the door closed. "Hey, Chris, have a seat. I want to talk with you about something."</p>
<p>The last thing Pike wanted to do right now was talk, even with Rob. But lacking the will to argue he just sat on the couch.</p>
<p>The second he hit the cushion, Pike felt any remaining fight he had drain out of him.</p>
<p>"How've you been, Chris?" Rob asked, sitting next to Chris and pulling out a small bottle of whiskey. "And don't bullshit me. I've known you way too long."</p>
<p>"Well, this wasn't how I wanted to get my first command," Pike said. </p>
<p>Rob popped the cork on the bottle and set about pouring two small tumblers.</p>
<p>"I'm on duty," Pike protested.</p>
<p>"Not anymore. I just relieved you."</p>
<p>"I hate whiskey," Pike tried.</p>
<p>"Sometimes nothing else will do." Rob, naturally, would not be dissuaded. "Now bottoms up. That's an order, Commander."</p>
<p>Pike sighed heavily and reached for the glass. He spared Rob a dirty look before downing all of the whiskey in one swallow.</p>
<p>"You wouldn't hate it so much if you enjoyed it in the proper manner," Rob said.</p>
<p>Pike grimaced and set the glass back on the table. "There is no way to 'enjoy' that swill."</p>
<p>Rob shook his head. "You never did have any taste." He fixed Pike with a hard look. "Now stop trying to get out of it. How've you been?"</p>
<p>Pike leaned his head back against the couch. "I, uh...hard. It's been hard."</p>
<p>Rob nodded understandingly.</p>
<p>"The ion storm blew up," Pike started. "Just came out of nowhere. Systems went down. The core breached. Hull almost caved in."</p>
<p>"I read the report." Rob's voice was gentle, but didn't leave any wiggle room. "And I didn't ask for a play-by-play of everything that happened. I asked how you have been."</p>
<p>"I had to contact the families." Pike swallowed. "Captain Hagan and Commander Weber." </p>
<p><i>Stop it.</i> Pike fiercely blinked the moisture away from his eyes and willed himself not to think about the look on Julianne Weber's face upon learning her husband wasn't coming home.</p>
<p>The look on her daughter's face.</p>
<p>The way Hagan's mother had cried out in anguish.</p>
<p>Rob nudged his knee. "Hey." He held out another helping of whiskey. "Go slower this time."</p>
<p>"Are you trying to get me drunk so I'll talk?" Pike asked.</p>
<p>"Yup."</p>
<p>Ah, Rob. No-nonsense as ever. Lacking the will to argue, Pike took the glass.</p>
<p>"It all happened so fast," Pike said numbly after taking a perfunctory sip. "One second everything was fine and the next..." He stared at the tumbler. "Everything just went to hell and I had to pick up the pieces.</p>
<p>"Flannery died," Pike went on in a monotone. The Rotterdam's chief medical officer had been in engineering when the core breached. Unlike Commander Weber, Justin Flannery had no family members to contact. An only child, his parents had died years ago and he had no extended family of note. Pike wasn't sure if that made this whole mess easier or harder. "M'Benga and the rest of the staff did their best. But a lot of the extenders got injured."</p>
<p>"Too much work for too few hands," Rob said quietly.</p>
<p>"You could say that." Pike took another drink. The liquor didn't taste so bad anymore. "The ship's a wreck and so's her acting captain." He gave Rob a humorless smile. It was the closest Pike could come to vulnerability, even with chemical assistance.</p>
<p>"You do have a counselor on board, right?" Rob asked. "Did he make it?"</p>
<p>"She. Aanok," Pike answered. "Yes, she's fine. Probably has her hands full."</p>
<p>"Aanok?" Rob raised his eyebrows. "Sounds Vulcan."</p>
<p>"She is."</p>
<p>"A Vulcan therapist?"</p>
<p>"Believe it or not." The alcohol was starting to do its job and Pike's hold on reality became more tenuous. "She's...unique. As a Vulcan and a counselor. But she's good at what she does."</p>
<p>"Good enough for you to sit down with her?"</p>
<p>Pike glared at his brother-in-law.</p>
<p>"I'll assume you haven't," Rob said dryly.</p>
<p>"Yeah, Rob, with my ship and crew going to hell I've had plenty of time for the therapy couch."</p>
<p>"Hey, I've already told Sarah not to smother you," Rob said. "Which means she's going to turn her smothering you on me and ask if I've insisted you see the counseler." He sat back on the couch. "So this is me. Insisting you see the counselor. Now I don't have to lie to my wife and you're spared the inquisition."</p>
<p>Pike couldn't help a small but real smile this time. Rob was always good for running interference between the Pike siblings.</p>
<p>"You know I can't exactly walk back to the ready room like this." Pike's speech slurred with exhaustion and intoxication.</p>
<p>"Sure can't." Rob plucked away the now-empty glass. "Lie down and get some sleep."</p>
<p>"Are you kidding?" Pike said even as he yawned.</p>
<p>"No." April grabbed a throw pillow from his couch and tossed it to Pike. "You don't need to go back to the ready room. You aren't in command anymore. And you can't really walk back to your quarters either. So stay here and get a few hours of rest. I have to see to some things."</p>
<p>"Rob...."</p>
<p>"You are in no condition to protest, Chris." Rob stood and pushed Pike's shoulder to send the other officer toppling sideways on the couch. </p>
<p>
  <i>Sober Chris would have been able to resist that. Damn you, Rob. This was part of your plot too, wasn't it?</i>
</p>
<p>"You're no good to anyone dead on your feet, Chris. Sleep. You've earned it. I have it from here."</p>
<p>Pike didn't even hear Rob leave the room.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. A note</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I’ve found myself with an awful case of writer’s block for the second chapter here—awful, because I already have the third chapter mostly ready to go in my head. I’m about to go on a two-week trip to visit family; maybe that will clear things up? </p><p>I appreciate your patience, and I do hope to have this series up and running soon!</p><p>In the meantime you can follow me on tumblr where I mostly post about my writing processes and how my kid’s antics interrupt them: https://authortobenamedlater.tumblr.com/</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Proverbs 27:17 "As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend."</p>
<p>Kudos are good, comments are life. My favorite aspect of fanfiction is the opportunity for authors and readers to have real-time interaction. So talk to me! I don't bite! Just do be gentle, since we writers are a sensitive bunch. :) I was so nervous to post this, like I almost couldn't believe after a decade it's finally ready to go.</p>
<p>Discovery fans will surely pick up on some similarities to Anson Mount's Pike. I blew hot and cold with Discovery, but I thought Mount was the best part of the show by far and I just can't resist incorporating elements of his Pike into mine.</p>
<p>I do have a good idea of where I want this series to go. What I do not have a good idea of is how often updates will come. I have a toddler to take care of and a house to run, so my writing time is both precious and little. I promise to do my best, but I cannot promise that life will oblige. That said, if there's something you'd like to see explored in this little AU, I welcome any ideas! I don't write slash or smut but just about anything else is fair game.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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